1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to Bimini tops. More specifically, it relates to removable and foldable canopies for kayaks, canoes, paddleboats, personal watercrafts, and similar watercrafts and land vehicles, such as motorcycles.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Pleasure boating has been ever increasing in popularity, and naturally users want to be comfortable and safe while engaging in these pleasurable activities. The peak seasons for pleasure boating generally are the months of summer, fall, and spring, depending on location, which tend to be hotter and sunnier than the other months. Further, many of the smaller watercrafts require physical exertion from the user and have open tops. The exposure to direct sunlight for extended periods of time, especially during the hot summer months, can be both uncomfortable and dangerous.
Some larger watercrafts have shade-providing structures, such as awnings to provide shade to the users. Smaller watercrafts tend to lack such shade-providing structures. This drawback is mostly due to the lack of support structures and surface area on the watercraft that are necessary to attach a rigid shade-providing structure that is capable of withstanding wind, waves, and other environmental factors. To address these concerns, the prior art has attempted to describe certain apparatuses for providing a smaller watercraft with a shade-providing structure, such as a canopy.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,683,900 to Carmichael provides a rigid, collapsible canopy containing two support legs on either side of the canopy frame that come together and connect to the vehicle at a single point on the vehicle itself on the respective sides of the user sitting area. The canopy is attached so that the longest side or its longitudinal extent runs perpendicular to the direction of travel. Carmichael lacks an extended and adjustable canopy design and restricts a user's ability to row, enter, and exit on the side a small watercraft.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,690,390 to Hopkins, et al. describes a canopy system having outer support frames and inner transverse cross frames capable of receiving a flexible canopy fabric. Hopkins also contains a rectangular fabric canopy attached to the roughly parallel outer support frames. The outer support frames of Hopkins are positioned parallel to one another and parallel to the direction of travel. Thus, any sharp movements or environmental factors that affect the sides of the vehicle would place destabilizing force on the canopy, which would risk tipping or falling off of the vehicle. Similarly. U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,196 to Carter; U.S. Pat. No. 7,984,686 to Solorzano; U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,311 to Jager, U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2008/0048413 to Salinas et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,946,373 to Gibson each describe a canopy system having outer support frames and inner transverse cross frames capable of receiving a flexible canopy fabric. However, each of these apparatuses suffer from the same drawbacks as Hopkins et al., namely that their outer support frames are generally parallel to one another or otherwise do not include a structure or mechanism that sufficiently supports the canopy during stress.
Accordingly, what is needed is a stable and rigid frame canopy, for use on small watercrafts and/or land vehicles, being collapsible, adjustable, and capable of providing full body coverage without restricting a user's ability to operate the vehicle, including during times of stress (e.g., wind, waves, etc.). However, in view of the art considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the field of this invention how the shortcomings of the prior art could be overcome.
All referenced publications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Furthermore, where a definition or use of a term in a reference, which is incorporated by reference herein, is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
While certain aspects of conventional technologies have been discussed to facilitate disclosure of the invention, Applicants in no way disclaim these technical aspects, and it is contemplated that the claimed invention may encompass one or more of the conventional technical aspects discussed herein.
The present invention may address one or more of the problems and deficiencies of the prior art discussed above. However, it is contemplated that the invention may prove useful in addressing other problems and deficiencies in a number of technical areas. Therefore, the claimed invention should not necessarily be construed as limited to addressing any of the particular problems or deficiencies discussed herein.
In this specification, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge, or otherwise constitutes prior art under the applicable statutory provisions; or is known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which this specification is concerned.